A Soul to Love
by DeterminedRomance
Summary: 2 years after the war Harry has stopped caring about the world and is only a body that breaths. But when Draco discovers a dark curse on the man a new friendship will be formed to save the boy-who-lived and the man Draco has always loved. HD/DM-HG/RW
1. Prolouge

Hermione Granger stared worried at her friend as he looked out the window lost in what ever thoughts that were flowing through his head. Harry Potter had not been himself after lately. The light in his eyes had started to fade.

"Harry, you need to eat" Hermione said in a soft voice.

Harry turned his head to her and started blankly before turning back to the window. Hermione sighed and went over to her best friend, grabbing a hold of his hand. His hand felt cold and did not respond to the touch, but he didn't leave her grasp.

"Do you need anything?" she asked. Harry shook his head not looking at her. He had taken off his glasses and the blue shine of the window were clear in his eyes. She pulled her hand away and kissed his head. As she left his room she held back a sob.

Ron was standing right outside the door with a worried look in his eyes. Hermione shook her head. Ron cursed as he held her and kissed her forehead.

"What do we do?" he whispered to her. She didn't respond. For the first time, Hermione Granger had run out of idea's.

A couple days later Hermione visited Harry again and this time he was on the bed sitting cross legged and staring at the sheets.

"Harry, are you packed yet?" Hermione asked yet. He looked at her, and just before he went back to his almost comatose state, there was a slight glimmer of hope in his eyes. Hermione hadn't missed it.

Next to Harry's bed was a packed trunk, and on top was his professor robes. Hermione came and sat next to Harry and grabbed his hand again.

"Harry, are you sure you want to teach at Hogwarts. It's only been 2 years and... your just not well. Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked up at her and then past her, to Ron. Harry swallowed. He looked at her again and nodded. Hermione smiled and hugged him, Ron came in and joined in. For the first time in 10 months, Harry returned the affection. Hermione sobbed and held tighter.

The three best friends relished the moment.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry got ready for the portkey to take them to hogmeade. Harry held onto Hermione's hand. Ron smiled at his girlfriend as he felt the small box in his pocket. He was going to talk to Harry today. He was going to tell her how he planned to propose to Hermione tomorrow night. Maybe that would bring a smile to his best friends face.

The held hands as the nausea of the portkey hit them. Landing on their feet on Hogmeade ground, Harry fell to his knees. Hermione by his side holding his shoulder's as Ron asked again and again if he was okay. He only got up and continued to walk to the secret passageway to get to Hogwarts. Hermione sighed and continued to follow him.

Within minuted they arrived in Gryffindor common room. He continued to walk to Mcgonagall's office. Hermione and Ron quietly followed.

"Password?" the gargoyle asked.

"Et animo" Hermione said. The door opened and all three friends went inside.

As the sat and looked at the office, Mcgonagall had not made any changes and kept it the same. "Mr. Potter. Welcome back" she said as he entered the room.

He looked at her and back down. She sighed.

"Well I hope you are all acquainted with the school, there are new wings. Feel free to explore them. I trust you know where your quarters are. I presumed Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley would want to room together so that had been already done" she smiled. Hermione thanked her. Mcgonagall looked at Harry and sighed.

"Mr. Potter when the students found out you would be teaching the DADA class, the requests to be in that class shot up. To leave students satisfied we had to change the curriculum. There will be two sessions of the class, the practice and written. You will be teaching the practice part, and we have hired a second professor for the other task. I expect you to be professional and put your feelings aside and work with your co-professor to give the students the education they deserve" she said sternly.

Harry blinked at her. Hermione asked for him.

"Who's the other professor, Professor?"

"Mr. Draco Malfoy" she replied. On was he first one to get out of his seat. "Are you mad? Letting that git into this school again? And letting him teach? He's a filthy death eater!" he raged.

"Mr. Weasley you will control yourself! Mr. Malfoy was dropped on all charges after Harry himself testified on behalf of him. He has come with high recommendations from Brebuxon School for defense against the dark arts. He has finished a 6 year course in two. He is more than well qualified for the position. I assure you this decision was well thought out."

Hermione grabbed Ron's and and he stopped his next sentence. He fumed silently and sat back down. Mcgonagall looked back at Harry.

"You and Mr. Malfoy will have joint quarter's. Classes start in a week" she stood up and so did the three, they all took their leave.

Draco Malfoy stared at the picture in his hands. It was the only pictures of his entire, where they were all smiling. Right before the Dark Lord came to life when he was a baby. After then, there only fake family portraits. He ran his thumb over the photo.

He felt rescued, set free. This was his second chance. He was going to teach all those children that you are incharge of your own destiny, because that's how life works. Don't let someone else take over that. He heard the door click and looked up to see Hermione and Ron walking in with Harry Potter behind them. But Harry was different.

Draco wanted to look at his hero's face. He wanted to see those eyes. He couldn't. Harry was only looking at the ground as he walked.

Ron spotted him and growled.

"Why are you here Malfoy?" he asked.

Draco looked at Ron and and sighed.

"Weasley, I'm glad to see you're okay" he said sincerely.

"Don't play games ferret. You want to turn more children into murderers? Are you not satisfied by the deaths you caused? WHAT WILL IT TAKE YOU TO REALIZE NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE?" Ron screeched.

Draco flinched and looked at a red Ron. His eyes watered. He had changed. People should be able to see that.

"Oh so now the little death eaters going to cry, huh?" Ron scoffed.

Draco held back is tears. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Weasl...Ron. I want to apologize to you. And especially to you Grang...Hermione. I know what I did was not right. I'm sorry for hurting you. For torturing you. And your brother Ron, I'm sor-"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY BROTHER WITH THAT FILTHY MOUTH OF YOURS YOU SCUM" Ron screamed.

"I'm sorry okay! Please! I don't know what else to do! I'm begging for forgiveness"

"Don't even try. You use everyone you filth. Just like your father."

"I AM NOTHING LIKE MY FATHER!" Draco screamed.

Everything was silent. As the seconds passed, Draco finally spoke.

"If there is anyway I can make-up for what I have done please inform me. I will do all in my hands to repay you, to ask for forgiveness." Draco whispered.

Ron stared at him. Taking a breath he turned around to walk out. But he stopped halfway out.

"Take care of my best friend. You're forgiven" he said. Hermione started at him as walked out. She smiled at him. At one time she thought he would hit Malfoy. But he forgave him. Like a hero, a man. Her man. She giggled and turned to Malfoy. She gave him a light smile. He smiled back. She left to follow Ron.

The door closed. Draco sighed and turned to Harry. Through this argument, Harry had sat himself on the sofa. He was staring blankly at Malfoy.

"Please don't look at me like that Potter. I already apologized to Weasley and Granger, do I have to repeat myself to you?" he asked. Harry continued to stare at him. Draco sighed and came to sit by him.

"I guess I deserve that. Can I call you Harry?" he asked looking at Harry. Harry looked at Draco and blinked.

"Okay...Potter than. Are you okay?" Draco squinted and looked into the hero's eyes. He gasped, as he grabbed Harry's face and felt it cool to the touch.

"Harry...can you hear me? Blink if you're still there" Draco said, his voice panicked. Harry blinked. Draco gasped and got up.

"Listen to me Harry. Stay here. Do not move. Okay? Don't even walk around. Stay in the seat" Draco said. He turned around and ran to the door. When he looked out, he could barely see a light outline of Herimone and Ron walking away, holding hands.

"Hermione! Ron! Wait! WAIT!" he screamed. Both turned their heads to see a frantic Draco running toward them.

"Go get Mcgonagall. Harry's in trouble" Draco said.

"Already? It's been like 2 minutes? What the hell Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"No. It's been going on for a while. How long has Harry been like that?" Draco asked.

"10 months at the most. Why?"

"Because he's not depressed like you and Mcgonagall thought. He's under a rare dark curse. His soul is slowly being taken away from his body."


	2. Two

Everyone sat in the dining room connecting Harry and Draco's quarters. Draco was in his room. You could hear the sounds of things being thrown around. Minutes later Draco came out with a thick brown book. He came and sat down, putting the book on the table. On the cover, in gold, were the words "Atrum Veneficus Preteritus Vita"

"Is that in Latin?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded and opened the book going though the contents. He stopped and turned to a page toward the end.

"Here it is animus absentis curse. It's a curse we were studying in Brebuxon toward the end. It's a curse that when cast starts to take the soul of the person away from their body. The soul can go where ever the caster says. It depends on how they cast the curse" Draco read. He squinted his eyes and the suddenly widened.

"What? Draco what?" Hermione asked.

"It says, the only time it was cast was with Frendrick Marvolo Riddle, in 1851. In which he sent the soul of Reven Cemertrin, to the afterlife. Reven Cemertrin than had to be killed and then buried. Because his soul was gone but he was physically breathing" Draco said.

"So what, we watch him fade? Then we kill him?" Ron asked, the anger apparent in his voice.

Draco looked at Ron. He bit his lip and thought.

"We have to be able to do something else. Save him" Ron said, his voice quiet.

"Well, the spell was cast was only once so there's no written solution. But…"

"But what? You have an idea?" Ron said.

"We always had this theory. Well Professor Jackson always did. He said if someone was to give the victim parts of their soul, slowly, then maybe, they could be saved" Draco said.

"Like a horcrux?" Ron asked.

"A horcrux is the result of someone who murder's to save themselves or an ill will. No. This is called a pars animus. Unlike a horcrux it's a complicated potion that is made so the part of the soul separates itself, but it only works if the person had good intentions. Otherwise, the potion kills the drinker. If it works then you have to do something to get the soul from one place to the other. I think its open contact" Draco thought. Then he turned the pages of the book again.

"Here's the potion, and it says…basium quispiam quisnam diligo tantum vos. Basium...I don't remember what that is" Draco bit his lip.

"It means kiss professor Malfoy. A kiss is what gets one's soul to the other person" Mcgonagall. Draco nodded. He looked at Ron and Hermione.

"So one of us has to give a part of our soul to Harry, and he'll be okay?" Hermione asked.

"Not exactly. They have to replace every amount of his soul that's not there anymore. So they would be in Harry's position by the end. Plus, I can't really know if it works" Draco said.

"Wait. If Voldemort knew about this curse, why didn't he use it?" Ron asked.

"Because it's once the spell is cast, the person who cast it starts to die. By the time the victims soul is completely gone the caster is dead. That's why Frendrick cast it when he was about to die, because it didn't matter. And he's the only one who cast it. He's the one who invented it." Draco said.

"I'll do it" Hermione said. "I'll test your theory. And if it works I'll finish it off" Hermione said. Ron stood up.

"No! You're not going to kill yourself like that" he said, his voice near fuming.

"She can't anyway" Draco said looking at Ron. "The potion requires a specific blood line and inheritance. Hermione has neither of which" Draco said.

"What does it require?" Hermione asked.

"Pure magical blood" Draco said.

"Well then I'll do it. I'll test out the theory" Ron said.

"No" Draco said.

"No?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I'm going to do it. I'll create the potion and I'll test the theory" Draco said.

"Why not me?" Ron said.

"Let's say this theory works. If Harry becomes himself again and finds out that either of you practically gave your lives up for him, he'd never be able to live with himself. He has a mildly disturbing hero complex. Just don't tell him I did it and he'll be fine" Draco said.

"Draco you can't kill yourself for him. He'd never forgive himself. This isn't the way to gain redemption" Hermione stated.

"Redemption? You think this is about redemption? I know Harry would have forgiven me. He's a noble, annoying prat of a Gryffindor like you and Ron. This is more than just redemption, it's about saving the life of some one who deserves to live and happily till their tired of living. This man has given up his entire life for the magical world and he deserves to live a long life with his best friends, a loving spouse and kids. A million if he wants. If it's me who dies it's okay. I deserve it. I may be sorry but that changes nothing. He doesn't deserve this. It'll me testing theories and me dying. Not you. You guys deserve life as much as he does. Let me do it" Draco said, finality in his voice.

"Can we get his soul back?" Hermione asked.

"Not unless we know who cast it. Not unless we know how the spell was casted. It really depends on how the spell was cast. The person maybe collecting Harry' soul, or sending it into the afterlife" Draco said. "There's no more discussion. I'm going to start making the potion and try to finish it before term starts. If we start getting Harry back he'll be able to teach when the student's arrive"

"What if it doesn't work?" Ron asked.

"Then we have to torture Harry to get the magical signature of whoever cast the spell. And that might not work. I don't have much to go on" Draco said.

The room was completely silent. The four sat in silence. Draco read over the potion, and sighed.

"It's a complex ingredient potion, but not time consuming. I can't make mistakes though. I'll need some ingredients. Hermione, can you go and find me some unicorn hair, ghost tears, Mandrake root and an artichoke" Draco said.

"An artichoke?" Hermione asked.

"It's an aphrodisiac. It's so that soul realizes that-"

"you're sacrificing yourself for the one you love" Hermione completed his sentence, her eyes wet, biting her lip.

Draco looked down, and stood up trying to play it off.

"It would be great to have the ingredients by tomorrow" Draco whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. He began walking out of the room to the potions lab, to begin the process because the dragon fire had to be reduced to a clear liquid before he could continue. That would take all night.

"Malfoy wait" Ron said. Draco stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Why do you love harry?" Ron asked.

"Because he has loved everyone but himself. Because he's always cared about others. Because even after everything I did, he saved my life. I housed the man who killed his parents but he grabbed me from the fiendfyre and protected me. And when I was holding onto him on the broom, his hand in mine, I had never ever felt safer. I knew then why didn't rat him out that night, why I let him have my wand so easily. Because I've loved him since I first saw him at Madam Malkins. And by the time I realised it, it was too late" Draco said. He then continued to walk out, his pace a little faster.

The room was dead silent.


	3. Three

Draco stared at the silver potion waiting for it to turn green. The potion required a lot of magical power. It was draining his energy. Harry sat on the opposite side of the common room on the sofa staring at the cream carpet. His eyes had glazed over. Draco could feel the room becoming scolder.

Another part of Harry's soul had just been lost.

Draco took in a deep breath and continued to wait.

Hermione entered the room smiling with takeout in her hand. Her smile faded when she saw Harry and the Draco.

"You're going to be too magically drained to finish if you starve yourself" Hermione said. Draco looked up at her and smiled. "I can't walk away from the potion."

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked into the room putting the bag sown on the table by Harry. She walked over to the potion book and smiled. "Ah, see there. It says, after 3 turns let rest for 10 minutes. Don't you lie to me Malfoy."

Hermione grabbed a quill from the ink bottle and added _"& eat_" after the 10 minutes. It now read after_ **3 turns let rest for 10 minutes & eat.**_ Draco chuckled.

"You're going to mislead people when they read the book. Hermione bit her lip and added at the bottom:

_Instruction in ink only intended for Draco Abraxas Malfoy._

"There, now don't name your child Draco" Hermione smiled. Draco smiled sadly. Hermione, realizing her mistake, bit her lip.

"Draco I'm -"

"It's okay Hermione. You weren't being Malicious" Draco said, looking up at her. The potion turned green and he sighed adding the mandrake root and stirring 3 times.

"Now I do believe a certain Draco Malfoy has specific instructions after the 3 stirs" he smirked. Hermione smiled back and went to open the food. She sat down next to Harry and passed utensils to Draco.

Hermione pulled out some Hunan beef and handed it to Harry. "Here you go Harry." Harry sat there gripping the box but not eating.

"He won't eat. Another part of his soul was taken away, I think. Just minutes ago." Draco whispered. He grabbed the food and a fork and held a piece up to Harry's mouth. Harry opened his mouth without looking at anything but the carpet and took the took the piece in. He swallowed without chewing.

"I'll feed him smaller pieces. He doesn't seem to be chewing" Draco said.

"No. How about you eat and I'll feed him" Hermione said grabbing the beef and feeding Harry. Harry began eating what was given to him. Draco ate the noodles and rice with ease. His energy seemed to be returning. The door to the room opened once more as Ron walked in.

"Hey mate" Ron smiled.

Draco felt a swell of warmth. "Mate" he whispered.

"Mate, you know friend. Buddy. Chum." Ron said smiling. Draco smiled back and continued eating. Ron joined Hermione and grabbed the pork, holding the fork of food out to Hermione. She smiled and took a bite kissing Ron.

Draco wanted that. He wanted that love, with Harry.

The potion began to bubble. Draco stood up and began on the potion again, his thoughts at a stand still.

TimeSkip

It was late now. Almost 3 in the mourning. Hermione had fallen asleep on Ron's chest and Ron was sitting reading the book "Charms and Charming Charms Professor". Draco smiled.

Ron Weasley, Charms Professor. How entertaining.

The potion had turned a mystic blue. He waited for the first bubble, and then took out a sharp razor.

Draco held his wrist above the potion and cut into his skin.. The red dripped down into the potion mixing with the blue. He used his other hand to grab the piece Harry's hair. The potion began to sizzle a green. The pot from underneath the began to swallow itself.

"Is it supposed to be doing that?" Ron asked. Draco nodded and added in 3 bits of mandrake root. By this time the pot was invisible. Hew began to stir.

"Ron, would you mind grabbing Minerva?" Draco asked.

"Sure" Ron replied. He quietly took Hermione off his chest and placed her head on a pillow. He then left the common room.

Draco stirred constantly. He stared at the potion, counting the seconds. He waited for the color to change. It had been exactly 78 seconds when the color changed to a gold. He smiled wide.

He'd done it. He'd actually successfully created one of the hardest potion in the world.

"Well done, Mr. Malfoy. Perhaps you should consider teaching potions instead. You have the gift like certain slytherin I used to know" she smiled with a glint in her eye. The Glint that reminded him so much of Dumbledore. He chuckled. He missed Severus.

The potion was done. It had sizzled down till it was just a still potion. Draco grabbed a vial from the cabinet next to his bed. He grabbed a ladle and poured the potion in. He turned to Ron and Minevra, Hermione now also awake.

"Alright then mate, Kiss him"

Draco stared at Harry. Kiss Harry. Off course he would. He always waited for this day.

But not like this. Harry will never know. He thinks.

"Will he rember?" Hermione asked.

"This is the first time anyone has ever attempted this potion. I don't know what will happen, or even if it will work"

Draco smiled sadly and downed the potion in one swing. He stood still for a minute before cringing. He could feel it, His soul was separating, his body was responding to the separation. He felt uncomfortable. With the will power he had left, he approached Harry who was sitting on the couch. He kneeled down and grabbed the green-eyed man's chin.

"Hey Potter" Draco whispered.

"Did you know, I've loved you since Madam Malkins? Well, I've admired you since then. I've loved you since I saw you at the manor. Protecting Hermione. You were amazing. Will you promise me something? If by some chancre you remember anything, move on for me okay? Move on, for the sake of my love. I love you Potter"

When Draco's lips touched Harry's, there was a sudden burst of light in the room. Everything was gold. Draco felt his soul traveling up to Harry. He pulled Harry' mouth open, so the soul could travel. He sneaked his tongue into Harry's mouth feeling around the soft mouth. Draco decided there wasn't a more magical feeling. This was it. He felt small pressure back. His eyes opened to see Potter, responding to his kiss. Draco whimpered and continued the assault in Harry's mouth. He could die happy right here. When it was getting too hard to breath, he reluctantly pulled away taking a deep breath with his nose.

Harry opened his eyes and looked into Draco's grey ones.

"Hello" he squeaked. Draco chuckled. "Hello Potter"


End file.
